About Concours
ESTABLISHED IN 1993, OUR TEAM OF SPECIALISTS ARE DEDICATED TO DELIVERING THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE QUALITY PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION OF THE WORLDS FINEST MARQUES: JAGUAR, ASTON MARTIN AND FERRARI.
CSR is recognised worldwide as one of the finest restorers of classic Jaguars, Aston Martins and Ferraris, a reputation that has taken years to develop and one that we strive to uphold. Our uncompromised policy of performing only 1st class repairs ensures that any car we restore will be a joy to own and drive for many years. Plus, it will always retain the highest possible value.
No matter which corner of the globe you are viewing our website from, CSR is a very real option to have your classic Jaguar dream realised. Please enjoy browsing through our website, have a read of the testimonials from our satisfied customers.
Concours Sportscar Restoration Decade by Decade
1993 - 1999
It all began in 1993 in a small factory in Orchard Road, Brookvale with just 4 cars for restoration: a series 1 3.8 E Type coupe, an XK150 roadster, an Aston Martin DBSV8 and an Aston Martin DB6. This quickly grew as the word got out and prompted a move down the road to Ada Ave, the investment in the best quality spray booth available, and the purchasing of a lot of other specific equipment. The shop soon had a capacity of 14 cars and was quickly filled up!
The very first XK restored by CSR, a black XK150S roadster T832078DN, was runner up at the first ever Concours D’Elegance we had entered, the 1994 Jaguar National Concours D’elegance held in Tasmania. From there the car won OUTRIGHT at the 1994 CVVTMC Club Champions Concours (Sydney), the 1994 Jaguar Drivers Club of Australia State Concours (Sydney), the 1994 Darling Harbour Concours (Sydney), the 1995 Australian Concours D’Elegance (Gold Coast) and was runner up at the 1995 Jaguar National Concours D’elegance (Brisbane), the 1995 Jaguar Drivers Club of Australia State Concours (Sydney) and the 1996 Jaguar National Concours D’Elegance (Canberra).
In 1996, the business had grown to the extent that a move into a much larger premises in Old Pittwater Road, Brookvale was necessary. The staff grew to 10 and typically 30 vehicles were being worked on at any given time. The next 6 years at these premises saw many classic vehicles, primarily Jaguars, restored for customers from every corner of the country.
Many more Concours D’Elegance successes followed, especially with our most successful during the 1990’s, a pearl grey XK140DHC S817715. This car won every Concours D’Elegance event it was entered in OUTRIGHT, including the 1995 Jaguar National Concours D’ Elegance (Brisbane), the 1995 Jaguar Drivers Club of Australia State Concours D’Elegance (Sydney), the 1995 CVVTMC Club Champions Concours (Sydney), the 1995 Sydney Motor Show Concours D’Elegance, the 1996 Australian Concours D’ Elegance (Gold Coast) and finally the 1996 Jaguar National Concours D’Elegance (Canberra).
In 1999, the team was asked to build an exact replica of the classic Jaguar racer, the C Type. We have built 7 to date and they have received worldwide acclaim.
2000 - 2010
We Moved Premises
In 2003 a big decision was made to move the entire business to the Central Coast of NSW, just a one-hour drive north of Sydney. The business still operated the same but now in a larger, more strategically laid out premises. Workshop capacity is now 34 cars and it is always full! We added on a specific paint section containing the booth and paint mixing room. More special Concours D’Elegance wins have followed with an Aston Martin Lagonda restored by the team winning the 2008 AMOC Concour OUTRIGHT and a rare RHD XK140 roadster S800040 winning every concour it entered OUTRIGHT, including the 2004 Jaguar National Concour D’Elegance (Canberra).
Our next Concour success was with XK120 661123. This car is our most awarded restoration to date, having won every Concour it was entered in OUTRIGHT, including the 2008 Jaguar Drivers Club of Australia Concours D’elegance (Sydney), the 2009 Jaguar National Concour D’Elegance (Hobart), the 2009 CMC Concours D’ Elegance (Sydney). Then in 2010, 661123 was voted the “Inaugural Australian Classic Car Magazine Car of the Year”, in which this car was described “as close to perfection as one could imagine”.
2010 - 2020
We Celebrate 25 Years in Business
As we clicked over into 2010, the restoration side of the business continued on as busy as ever. It also began including a number of vehicles being shipped to us from overseas to be restored and then returned. The Recreation side of the business expanded from the C Type’s to now include recreations of the Lightweight E Type and Low Drag Coupe version. Then we added an alloy body version of the XK120 and XK140 roadster which hails back to the early Jaguar racing days.
Expansion of the premises to include a new bodywork section at the rear of the existing factory and the addition of a mezzanine level has allowed for staff levels to increase to cater for the increased demand. E Type values and popularity soared which was great news for us! During this decade we restored many E Type’s, some went on to win numerous concours d’elegance events, some were upgraded for regular use and some were destined for the race track.
We discovered the white flat floor E Type roadster pictured in a farm shed in rural Queensland and fully restored it to factory original condition over a two year period. The car won the 2018 Jaguar Drivers Club of Australia concours d’elegance OUTRIGHT, then next it won its class at Australia’s premier multi marque concours d’elegance, Motorclassica. Then finally, in March 2019, it took out the highest award possible in Australia – winning the Jaguar National Title OUTRIGHT.
The blue 3.8 E Type coupe pictured we fully restored to factory original condition which was runner up at the Jaguar Nationals in March 2019 (so we achieved first and second at the nationals), it won the 2019 Jaguar Drivers Club of Australia concours d’elegance OUTRIGHT and then placed in the top 10 at Motorclassica 2019.
In 2019 we completed our most spectacular Low Drag Coupe to date.
2020 Onwards
2020 was obviously a tumultuous year but we were very fortunate to come through unscathed and we were busier than ever. During 2020 we completed the total restoration of RHD 4.2 E Type roadster chassis number 4, the second oldest surviving 4.2 E Type in the world.
A separate, dedicated storage facility has been added to provide very secure storage of customers’ vehicles and we also added a fully enclosed car trailer to our well used open trailer, which allows us to personally collect and deliver all of our customers cars safely and discreetly no matter where they are in Australia.
The workshop came in for some improvements too. The detailing area we enclosed with white panelling and LED lighting and we added another large mezzanine above the paint prep area, giving much more storage space up top but also enabling us to create a dust room below for all of the paint prep work to be done more efficiently.
Restoration of Jaguar’s, Aston Martins and Ferrari’s remains the backbone of the business, but these days Gavin finds himself caring for entire personal collections of cars. Proper maintenance and value adding improvements to the 3 marques, along with other collectable cars has become a big part of the business.